Today's meal is brought to you by busy fall days, when all you want to do is cozy up by the fire, but all you have time to do is run around and put fires out. Slow cooker meals are perfect for busy moms who may have a few minutes here or there during the day to dump ingredients, then forget about them. You can come home after a hard days work and dinner is done. This savory filling soup is perfect for a cold fall evening.

Have you ever been to the fast casual restaurant Cubby's in Utah? It's seriously to die for. Fresh, healthy, good for you food with such great flavors. If you live near one, run there now. Seriously, what are you doing still reading this post? Go! I recently had Cubby's wild rice & kale salad. It's full of chicken, apples, and packed with savory flavors. I don't live within a days drive of a Cubby's, so figuring out how to make this salad on my own was a must. This salad isn't 100% up to the deliciousness they have created, but its darn near close. Make it today and your body and taste buds will thank you.

Ingredients: Salad: 1 head of kale, finely sliced into 1/8 of an inch strips1 chicken breast, cooked, then diced1 apple, diced1/3 cup toasted almonds, chopped1 cup wild rice, cooked1/4 cup dried cranberries1 avocado, diced3 ounces goat cheese, crumbledDressing: 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar1/2 cup olive oil1 shallot, minced1 clove garlic, minced2 tsp dijon mustard1 tablespoon lavender honey1/2 tsp kosher saltsprinkling of fresh ground pepperDirections: Once your kale is chopped, toss it with the lemon juice to allow it to soften. Cook your rice and while the rice is still hot, mix it with the kale to soften it further. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Add in your other salad ingredients, dress to your taste level, and toss. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

On the farm, people always wonder how we know when its time to pick our apples.

We usually like to wait until after the first frost of the season. Your apples will begin to start falling from the tree when they are ready to be picked. When your apples are ripe, they should be fairly easy to pick from the tree with a simple upward twist of the apple. Try to avoid picking an apple by pulling the fruit straight down and tugging. If you have to pull very hard to get them off, they are not ready and you should wait a few days. Another trick is to make sure you don't drop them a far distance from when you pick them into your bucket. You should just set them gently into your bucket to avoid bruising. Peggy's favorite way to pick apples is to wear a backpack on your chest and place the apples inside as you pick.